People with health conditions helped to stay in work by council

5 December 2018

Portsmouth workers whose health problems are affecting their jobs will get more support to stay in work after Portsmouth City Council received government funding.

The council will take on two new Well@Work employment retention advisers to work with people who are at risk of losing their jobs because of poor mental or physical health.

The boost comes after the project - which the council is running in partnership with Southampton City Council - was chosen by the government as one of 19 UK schemes worthy of a share of a £4m funding pot aimed at getting one million more people with disabilities in work by 2027.

Cabinet member for planning, regeneration and economic development Cllr Ben Dowling said: "Nobody should be held back at work because of their illness. The extra money we have secured from this fund will help to improve people’s quality of life and help them thrive in the workplace.

"This project will help people to stay in work by helping them to manage their conditions themselves and making it easier to access advice and support."

Minister for disabled people, health and work Sarah Newton MP said: "We want to harness the power of technology to tackle the disability employment gap, and these novel ideas will help us to achieve our goal of seeing one million more disabled people in work.

"I congratulate those successful in securing funding and look forward to working with them to develop these innovative ideas.

"This will ensure that people whose health conditions may have previously held them back in the workplace or even caused them to drop out of employment can benefit from the latest innovations and tailored support."

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